Emergency-brake.



No. 755,750. PATEN'I'ED MAR. 29, 1904.

- F. B. COREY.

EMERGENCY BRAKE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 1'6, 190's.

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UNITE STATES Patented March $29, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRED B. COREY, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRICCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

EMERGENCY-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,750, dated March29, 1904.

Applicationfiled July 16, 1903.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRED B. COREY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Emergency-Brakes,ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relatesto improvements in means for automaticallycontrolling motors and power-actuated brakes in case of an emergency andis intended for use especially in connection withelectrically-propelledvehicles or trains employing a braking systemactuated by compressed fluid.

In air-brake systems, and especially in the socalled straight air-brakesystems, in which the brakes are'applied by increasing the pressure ofthe air in the train-pipe in contradistinction to automatic systems, inwhich the brakes are applied by the reduction of the pressure in thetrain-pipe, means other, than the engineers or motormans valve haveheretofore been employed by which the brakes maybe applied in case of anemergency. In the so-called straight air-brake system such emergencymechanism is liable to be rendered ineffective if the motormans valve isaccidentally or intentionally left in a certain positionviz.' thenick-release osition in which the train-pipe is connected directly toatmosphere through a wide opening.

The object of my invention is to prevent accident in case the motormanwhile on duty becomes incapacitated through sudden illness, death, orany other cause.

More specifically stated, the object of my invention is to provide novelmeans for guarding against the possibility of the automatically-actuatedemergency mechanism being rendered ineffective if operated when themotormans valve is left in a certain position.

The invention therefore consists of the. combination, with anemergency-valve which is operated to apply the brakes whenever theoperator becomes incapacitated, of a motor mans valveso constructedandarranged that it will automatically move from a position which rendersthe operation of the em ergencyvalve inefiective into another positionwhich Serial ITO-165,718. (N0 model.)

will not interfere with the effective operation 5 of saidemergency-valve.

The said invention constitutes an improvement on the devices shown anddescribed in the application of George Macloskie, Serial No. 148,910,filed March 21, 1903, and my application, Serial No.'148,902, filedMarch 21, 1903. i

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodimentof my invention, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a spe- 2 is asectional plan View of the controller on 5 the line 2 2 of Fig. 1,showing the emergency valve-actuating mechanism in the positioncorresponding to the .ofi' position of the motor-controller. Fig. 3 is asectional plan I view similar to the view shown in Fig. 2 andillustrates the emergency valve actuating mechanism 1n the position itassumes ust after the emergency-valve is operated. Fig.

4: is an elevation of part of the emergencyvalve-actuating mechanism,showing the means actuatedfrom the controller-handle for releas ng theemergency-valve and resetting said valve actuating mechan sm. Fig. 51s avertical section through the preferred form ofemergency-valve on theline5 5 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 is a sectional plan View of the emer-,

gency-valve on the line 6 6of Fig. 5. Fig.7

is a vertical section of the m'otormans valve. Fig. 8 is atop plan Viewof the valve-seat,

representing diagrammatically the position of 5 the valve port s for thelap position of the valve. Fig. 9 is a top plan view of a completemotormans valve. Fig. 10 is a sectional plan view of a portion of thevalve-bonnet and the head fitting over the same, taken on 9 the line 1010 of Fig. 7 Fig. 11 is atop plan view of the rotatable disk-valveremoved from its casing; and Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic representation ofa straight air-brake system,

to which my invention is especially applicable.

Referring now to the drawings, A represents the back of thecontroller-casing, and E the operating-handle for thecontroller-cylinder B, mounted within said casing. Thecontroller-cylinder B carries the usual contactsegments and is geared bycog-wheels C and C to the shaft D, which runs into the hub e of theoperating-handle E, the said hub being rotatable in an opening in thecap-plate A and fastened to the shaftD by means of a setscrew d.Rotatably mounted on the shaft D is a sleeve F, maintained yieldingly inits normal position by means of the helical spring F, which is connectedat one end to the sleeve and at the other end to the shaft, preferablyby means of the collar D, secured to said shaft. The sleeve F carries acam f and lug f, Fig. 2, the latter serving as a stop by abuttingagainst a stationary lug a on the under side of the cap-plate.

Connected with the knob E in the controlling-handle is a pin e, whichrests upon the long arm of the lever E fulcrumed on the operating-handleE. A spring E bears on the short arm of the lever E and keeps the pinand knob normally raised. A toothed rocker E also is fulcrumed on theoperatinghandle and engages with the short arm of the lever E The otherend of the rocker E engages with a lug on the upper end of the bolt Gr,slidable in a keyway in the shaft D and adapted to enter a notch fformed in the upper end of the sleeve F. The bolt G will enter the notchf whenever the knob E is depressed, providing the controller is in theoff position and acts to lock said sleeve to the shaft. The sleeve F isadapted to be rotated with the shaft D so long as pressure is maintainedon the knob E, on which the palm of the motormans hand is adapted torest while the controlling-handle is being operated.

Adjacent to the shaft D within the controller-casing is a rock-shaft H,carrying an arm it, which bears against the cam f, as is clearly shownin Figs. 2 and 3, whereby the movement of said cam will rock the shaftH. Also mounted on the rock-shaft H is an arm it, carrying a block ofinsulation H, on which are mounted two connected spring contactfingerswhich cooperate with stationary contacts, forming therewith adouble-pole switch I for closing and opening the power-circuit whenshaft H is rocked. The insulating-casing containing the blow-out coilfor the switch I is indicated at L. The reversing-switch BS is of thetype used in connection with mastercontrollers for train-control systemsemploying motor-controllers of the separately-actuated contact type. Thecustomary interlocking mechanism between the said reversingswitch andthe shaft D is indicated at W.

Mounted within the controller-casing and operative] y connected in theair-brake system is an emergency-valve which is adapted to apply thebrakes in case the controller-handle is released by the operator. Toapply the brakes when the so-called automatic airbrake system isemployed, the emergencyvalve exhausts the train-pipe to atmosphere, andwhen the straight air-brake system is employed it connects the source ofcompressed-fluid supply to said train-pipe. In this application I havechosen to illustrate my invention in connection with the straightairbrake system.

Referring now to the straight air-brake system, (shown diagrammaticallyin Fig. 12,) the source of compressed-fluid supply,here shown as amotor-driven air-compressor 20, is connected with the train-pipe 15 byway of the motormans valve V through pipes 17 and 18 and thestorage-reservoir 19. The said trainpipe is also connected to thebrake-cylinder 16. The emergency-valve P is connected to the pipes 17and 18 by means of the pipes 21 and 22, respectively. The casing of theemergency-valve P preferably contains two valvesa relay-valve andaeontrolling or pilot valve for said relay-valve. The relay-valve 23(shown more clearly in Fig. 5) is adapted to rest upon the valve-seat 24and is normally maintained upon said seat by means of compressed fluidassisted by the spring 25. The compressed fluid enters chamber 26 abovethe valve 23 from the chamber 36 through the small passage-way 27,formed in said valve. Communicating with the chamber 26 by means of thepassage-way 28 is an auxiliary valvechamber 29, (see Fig. 6,) containingvalve 30, which controls the communication between chamber 26 and theatmosphere through the exhaust-port 31. The said valve 30 is normallymaintained on its seat by means of fluidpressure assisted by the spring32. The compressed fiuid which assists spring 32 enters chamber 29behind the piston attached to the valve 30 through the passage-way 33 inthe valve 30. Attached to the valve 30 is a spindle 34, having formedthereon an annular groove 35. When the spindle 34 is forced inwardly,the valve 30 is raised from its seat and the .chamber 26 is exhausted toatmosphere through the passage-way 28 and the exhaustport 31, and sincethe passage-way 27 in the valve 23 is small compared with theexhaustport 31 the pressure in the chamber 36, which is in directcommunication with the source of supply, will open the valve 23 againstthe action of the spring 25, thereby connecting the pipe 22 with thepipe 21 through the chamber 37 and admitting compressed fluid to thetrain-pipe 15 to cause the brakes to be applied. Such a construction ofemergencyvalve allows the use of a Very small controlling-valve 30,which will require a comparatively small pressure on the spindle 34 toopen it. It also allows the use of a relatively large relay-valve whichadmits air rapidly to the train-pipe in order to apply the brakesquickly. The relay-valve may be located at any desired point outside orinside of the controller-casing, it being only necessary to have thecontrollingvalve 30 and the actuating I go mechanism therefor locatedrelatively near and operatively connected with the controlling-handle E.

The mechanism for operating the emergency-valve will now be described.

Pivotally mounted at 38 on the bracket 38, attached to thecontroller-casing or to the emergency-valve casing, is a lever 38, oneend of which is adapted to impinge the valvespindle 34 and the other endof which lies in the path of a projection or lug 39, formed on the underside of the cam f. The said projection 39 is adapted to strike the lever38 so as to cause the controlling-valve 30 to open whenever thecontrolling-handle is released by the operator, provided thereversingswitch RS is in one or the other of its operative positions.The controller is provided with means whereby the lug 39 may be held outof engagement with the lever 38 and locked in said position when thereversingswitch is moved into its neutral position. The said means,which renders the emergencyvalve inoperative when the handle is releasedby the operator, comprises a lever-arm 40, pivoted to the cap-plate A at41, and the link 46, pivoted to the lever-arm 40 at 45. The lever-arm 40hasformed thereon a projection 42, which is adapted to engage therecesses 43 and the projection 44, formed on the reversing-switchcylinder. The recesses 43 correspond to the operative positions of thereversing-switch. The link 46 has formed at its outer end a shoulder 47and a slot 48. The shoulder 47 is adapted to engage the projection orlug f, formed on the cam f, and the slot 48 coacts with the fixed pin49, integrally formed with or otherwise attached to the capplate A toform a guide for the reciprocable link 46.

As will be clearly seen by referring to Fig. 4, one side f of the notchf formed in the upper end of the sleeve F, is inclined in such a mannerthat as the bolt G, which is beveled at its lower end, is forced downinto said notch the sleeve F is rotated about the shaft D and is movedfrom the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig.2. Thisis accomplished by depressing the knob E in the controlling-handle afterthe said handle has been brought back to its off position.

Referring now to Fig. 7, 51 represents the body of the motormansair-brake valve, which is provided with suitable apertured lugs 52, bywhich it may be secured to any suitable support. The valve-bonnet isdesignated by 53 and is secured to the body of the valve by the bolts54. The main reservoir, train-pipe, and atmospheric connections 17 l8,and X respectively communicate through corresponding passages with theports 17, 18*, and X in the valve-body 51. The upper surface of thevalve-body 51 forms a seat for the rotary valvedisk 56, which has formedin its under side the communicating ports 57 and 58. (Shown in dottedlines in Figs. 8 and 11.) These ports,which are connected togetherthrough the passageway 58, are adapted to connect the train-pipe eitherto the main reservoir or to atmosphere in a manner to be hereinafterdescribed. The lower part of this rotary disk valve 56 is provided witha central projection 59, engaging the central socket 60, formed in thevalveseat. The upper surface of said valve is provided with lugs 62 and63, between which the lug 64 on the lower end of the valve-spindle 65 isadapted to rest when the parts are assembled. The spring 66 secures asatisfactory engagement of the valve 56 with its seat. The valve-spindle65 is suitably shaped at its upper end to receive the operating-handle70. Mounted upon the upper end of the valvebonnet 53 is a head or cap69, which fits about a portion of the upper end of said bonnet and,through the agency of the spring 71, one end of which is fixed to thecap and the other end of which is fixed to the bonnet, is normally heldin such a position that the stop 72 on the cap engages the stop 73 onthe bonnet 53, as shown in full lines in Fig. 10. When the handle 7 O isin its operative position on the valve-spindle 65, the projection 7 4,carried by the handle, lies in the same horizontal plane as theprojections 76 and 77 on the cap 69 and is adapted to engage saidprojections when moved into certain positiohs. dotted-line position ofthe parts illustrates how the projection 74 on the handle by engagingthe projection 7 7 on the'cap 69 would rotate said cap against thetension of the spring 71 until the stop 78 engages with the stop 73. Asthese stops are arranged the projection 74 on the handle does not engagethe stop 77 on the cap 69 until the handle in moving to the left hasmoved the valve 56 to the running position. Therefore the cap 69 is notmoved by the movement of the handle between any of the operativepositions to the right of the running position; but when it is attemptedto move the handle to the left of this position the resistance of thespring 71 is encountered, and should the hand of the motorman be removedfrom the handle 70 at any point between the running position and thequick-release position or atthe quick-release posit-ion it wouldimmediately be returned to the running position.

In the operation of the controller and emergency-valve when the motormanplaces his hand on the operating-handle E he depresses the push-pin andforces the bolt G down into the notch f in sleeve F. The rotation of thehandle operates first to close the cut-out switch I by operating therock-shaft H, through the agency of the sleeve F and the cam f, and thento control the motor-circuits by means of the controlling-cylinder B.With the operatinghandle in its off position and the reversingswitch inits neutral position the emergencyvalve-actuating mechanism is in theposition In Fig. 10 the end of the valve-spindle 34. When thereversing-switch is thrown into one of its operative positions and thehandle E is moved forward after depressing the knob E, the sleeve f isrotated with the shaft D, and the projection 39 is moved away from thelever 38, and the lug or projection f is moved out of engagement withthe shoulder 47. If now the motorman removes his hand from theoperatinghandle, the sleeve F is unlocked, and the spring F instantlyturns the said sleeve backward until the lug f strikes the stop a on thecapplate, as shown in Fig. 3. In this position of the sleeve theprojection 39 engages with one arm of the lever 38 and forces the otherarm of said lever into engagement with the valvespindle 3&, therebyopening the controllingvalve 30, which in turn causes the compressedfluid from the chamber 26 of the emergencyvalve to be exhausted toatmosphere and allows the valve 23 to open communication between thesource of compressed-fluid supply and the train-pipe, as has beenheretofore described. Also in this position of the sleeve the cam fallows the cut-out switch to be thrown open by means of spring 78. Thebrakes are now applied and the motor-circuit is broken. In order torelease the brakes after they have been applied by the operation of theemergency-valve, provided the motormans valve is in its normal runningposition and without operating said motormans valve, and also to resetthe emergency-valve-actuatin g mechanism, is is merely. necessary toturn the controller-handle back to its initial or off position and pressthe knob E, so as to force the lower end of the bolt G into engagementwith the inclined side f of the slotf thereby rotating the sleeve Fabout the shaft D and moving the lug 39 away from the lever 38. Thecontrolling-valve 30 is thus allowed to close under the action of thespring 32, and as the pressures in the chambers 26 and 36 are almostinstantly equalized the valve 23 is allowed to close under the action ofspring 25, assisted by said fluid-pressure, and cuts off thecommunication between the train-pipe and the source of supply.

In the straight air-brake system the source of compressed-fluid supplyis normally disconnected from the train-pipe, and the train: pipe isnormally connected to atmosphere through a small exhaust-port orcontracted passage-way in the motormans valve, the motormans valve beingin the position known as the runningposition. Therefore when the brakesare applied by means of the emergencyvalve a slight leaking takes placethrough this small exhaust-port in the motormans valve; but this leakingwill not be suflicient to render the emergency-valve inoperative toapply the brakes. By constructing the motormans valve in this manner andmaintaining it normally in the running position it will be seen that thebrakes will be slowly released when the emergency-valve is closed afterapplying the brakes.

In operating the motormans valve to apply the brakes the handle of saidvalve is moved into either the service-stop position (indicated by SS)-or the emergency-stop po' eration of the motormans valve, the handle 70is moved to either the running position, (designated by R.) or thequick-release position, (designated by QR.) When moved to the formerposition, the extension 57 of the port 57 overlaps the port 17 and aconnection through a contracted passage-way is made from the train-pipeto atmosphere, thus allowing the train-pipe pressure to gradually fallto that of the atmosphere and slowly release the brakes. VVhen thehandle is moved to the quick-release position, the ports 57 and 58register with the ports 17 and X, respectively, thus connecting thetrain-pipe to atmosphere through a large opening and allowing thetrain-pipe pressure to be reduced suddenly to that of atmosphere. Itwill be seen that if the motormans valve is allowed to remain in thequick-release position at any time when it is desired to operate theair-brakes by means of the emergency-valve the said emergency-valvewould be rendered inoperative, due to said large opening between thetrainpipe and the atmosphere, the compressed fluid in this case merelyflowing directly from the source of supply through the emergency-valveand the ports in the motormans valve to atmosphere instead of to thetrain-pipe to apply the brakes.

The purpose of the yieldingly-mounted head or cap 69 and its cooperativestops previously described is to move the valve 56 from thequick-release position to the running position in case of injury to themotorman or carelessness on his part in leaving said valve in thequick-release position, so that unless wilfully held in thequick-release position the motormans valve will not prevent an eflectualoperation of the emergency device to apply the brakes when the motormanbecomes incapacitated.

The specific construction of the working parts of the motor-controllerherein shown and described forms no part of my present invention, sinceit forms the subject-matter of a copending application of Frank E. Case,Serial No. 75,488, filed September 16, 1901. It is merely illustratedand described here to IIO more clearly show how my invention may beapplied to the type of master-controller generally employed intrain-control systems. It will be readily understood that the inventionis not limited in its application to any specific type of motor control.

Although I have shown and described my invention in connection with astraight airbrake systemthat is, a system in which the motormans valveadmits compressed fluid directly from a storage-cylinder to thebrakecylinders through the trainpipeit is equally applicable to anautomatic system, in which case the emergency-valve is arranged todischarge the train-pipe instead of admitting air from thestorage-reservoir to said train-pipe, and the motormans valve ispreferably arranged to operate automatically in a manner such as isshown and described in the patent to Howe and Gartner, No. 321,971,granted July 14:, 1885. v

I do not herein claim the above-described motormans valve and means forreturning the valve automatically from the quick release to the runningposition, since that forms part of the subject-matter of my application,Serial No. 154,430, filed April 27 1903; but I aim to cover in theclaims hereto appended all modifications of my invention as hereinbeforeset forth which do not involve a departure from its spirit and scope.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is-

1. In combination, abrake actuated by fluidpressure, a motormans valvefor controlling the operation of said brake, a motor-controller, anemergency-valve for applying said brake, means for operating saidemergency-valve to cause the brake to be applied when thecontroller-handle is released by the operator, and means for preventingsaid motormans valve from being left in such a position as to render theoperation of the emergency-valve ineffective to apply the brake.

2. The combination with an air-brake system, of a motormans valve forcontrolling the operation of the brakes, an emergency-valve operativelyconnected to the air-brake system, means for operating saidemergency-valve to cause the brakes to be applied when the operatorbecomes incapacitated, and means for moving the motormans valveautomatically from a position in which the operation of theemergency-valve is rendered inefiective into a position which does notprevent the brakes from being applied by the emergency-valve.

3. In combination, a motormans valve for an air-brake system constructedand arranged to connect the train-pipe to main reservoir through wideand restricted passages for certain positions of said valve and toatmosphere through wide and restricted passages for other positions ofsaid valve, an emergency-valve operatively connected to the air-brakesystem, means for operating said emergency-valve to cause the brakes tobe applied when the operator becomes incapacitated, and means for movingthe motormans valve automatically from a position in which the operationof the emergency-valve is rendered ineifective into a position whichdoes not prevent the brakes from being applied by the emergency-valve.

' I. In combination,a motormans valve for an air-brake systemconstructed and arranged to connect the train pipe to main reservoirthrough wide and restricted passages for certain positions of said valveand to atmosphere through wide and restricted passages for otherpositions of said valve, a motor-controller, an emergency-valveoperatively connected to the airbrakesystem,means operatively connectedto the motor controller for actuating said emergency-valve to cause thebrakes to be applied when the operator becomes incapacitated, and meansfor moving the motormans valve automatically from a position in whichthe operation of the emergency-valve is rendered ineffective into aposition in which the emergency-valve operates effectively to cause thebrakes to be applied.

5. In combination, a motormans valve for an air-brake system constructedand arranged to connect the train pipe to main reservoir through wideand restricted passages for certain positions of said valve and toatmosphere through wide and restricted passages for other positions ofsaid valve,a controlling-handle, an emergency-valve operativelyconnected to the air-brake system,means operatively connected to saidhandle for actuating said emergencyvalve when the controlling-handle isreleased by the operator, and means for moving the motormans valveautomatically from a position in which the operation of theemergencyvalve is rendered ineffective to apply the brakes into aposition which does not prevent the effective operation of theemergency-valve.

6. In combination, a motormans valve for an air-brake system constructedand arrangedto connect the train pipe to main reservoir through wide andrestricted passages for certain positions of said valve and toatmosphere through wide and restricted passages for other positions ofsaid valve, a motor-controller, an emergency-valve operatively connectedto the air-brake system,means operatively connected to themotor-controller for opening the motor-circuit and for actuating saidemergencyvalve to cause the brakes to be applied when the operatorbecomes incapacitated,and means ally from a position in which theoperation of the emergency-valve is rendered ineffective into a positionin which the operation of the emergency-valve will cause the brakes tobe applied.

air-brake system constructed and arranged to connect the train pipe tomain reservoir through wide and restricted passages for cerfor movingthe motormans valve automatic- 7. In combination, a motormans valve foran tain positions of said valve and to atmosphere through wide andrestricted passages for other positions of said valve, a motor ormotors, a motor-controller therefor, a controlling-handle, anemergency-valve, means for opening the motor-circuit and for operatingsaid emergency-valve when the handle is released by the operator, andmeans for moving the motornians valve automatically from a position inwhich the operation of the emergency-valve is rendered inefiective intosuch a position that the brakes may be applied when the emergency-valveis operated.

8. In combination, a motormans valve for a straight air-brake system,means for returning said valve automatically to the run- In witnesswhereof I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of J uly, 1903.

FRED B. COREY. Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, HELEN ORFORD.

